It is known that a new language has recently appeared in
English writings which was not known before and it is still practically not
known but for the name. If you ask an American graduate; "What kind of language
is this?" he most probably suspect that it would be a language of Southern Asia
or Africa.

If they still ask him if he knew any works in this language, the answer would be
"no", since I have asked the same question repeatedly and have heard nothing but
"No". On the contrary if they ask " What Persian Language is? And the listener
only having a basic General Knowledge; he would not have a problem to connect
this language with the Persian Empire, Persian Art, Persian Poetry and even
Persepolis. He or she would probably know that this is the same language Omar
Khayyám has versed his Rubáiyát, which is well known in English. He would also
know that this is a language of an ancient country called "Persia" with her wars
with Greece, and her arts and carpets. The only thing he would not know is that
"Persian language" has a newly acquired name of "Farsi" and it is in relation to
one of the Muslim and Arabic spoken countries of The Middle East, called Iran.

In spite of this, we unfortunately witness yet another usage of "Farsi" instead
of "Persian" in English writings on a daily occurrence. This happens mostly by
the Iranians living in The USA; while they answer questions about languages that
they know in their application forms for jobs or university Courses. I suspect
that they even feel gratified to realize that "The known word of Farsi" can now
be used and is a usual occurrence in the English language. If they only knew
that the word "Farsi" has no background in English language and its relationship
to the identity of Persian (Iranian) Civilization and Culture that is reflected
in phrases such as " Persian Literature" and "Persian art" and "Persian Poetry",
is not clear at all, they would find themselves damaging irreparably the fame
and cultural status of Persia (Iran). The damaging contribution of "The Voice of
America" [VoA] and some of the American Universities' planners have not been
ineffective in this trend.
We should, in order to protect our literature and ancient cultural credibility
in the west, strictly avoid using the word " Farsi" and instead use the same old
and well-known word of "Persian" and to realize that usage of "Farsi" instead of
"Persian" is the negligence of our national interests.

Editor's comment:
The Voice of America (VoA) has officially changed the name of its Persian
programs from "Fársi" to "Persian". At the time this article was written, VoA
Persian service was wrongly called Fársi service. (related link:
VoA Persian)